§ Mr. G. N. BARNESI desire to ask your ruling and your advice on a matter of procedure arising out of an unfortunate incident in last night's proceedings, as a result of which I submit that one of my colleagues, the hon. Member for West Ham (Mr. W. Thorne), has suffered an injustice. I will just state the facts.
§ Mr. SPEAKERI have nothing to do with the facts. I cannot listen to ex parte statements from the hon. Member. Whatever took place took place with the Chairman of Ways and Means in the Chair, and, of course, he is the sole judge of the proceedings. I understood the hon. Member was going to ask my advice as to what subsequent proceedings he could take. I could give him that.
§ Mr. BARNESThen I desire to ask your advice as to the form in which I can raise this matter, with a view of getting the minute recording the proceedings, that is, the suspension of the hon. Member for West Ham, expunged from the Journals of the House. How much notice should I have to give of it, and in what form could I raise it?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member can put down notice of a Motion to expunge that part of the Journal to which he objects. Of course, he would have to find his own time to bring it on, or he would have to ask the Government to find time for him to do so. That is one course open to him. Another course is that where hon. Members do not approve the decision of the Chair, whether I happen to be in the Chair or the Chairman of Ways and Means, they can give notice of a Motion to censure the Chair for the particular decision.
§ Mr. BARNESI have no desire or intention of resorting to the last method, but might I ask the Prime Minister if he would be disposed to grant time to discuss a Motion in accordance with the first method?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member had better first put his Motion down, and give the Prime Minister an opportunity of seeing it.
§ Sir EDWIN CORNWALLIs there any procedure in the House for the protection of hon. Members beyond the mere withdrawal of any statement made by an hon. Member? In the event of a serious accusation being made against an hon. Member of the House beyond the withdrawal of the accusation is there any procedure whereby hon. Members can be further protected? Several of the public have expressed their views this morning, and the impression on their minds is that, although the accusation is withdrawn, there is still a charge to the detriment of an hon. Member of the House, and I should like to know, in case of any future occurrences, whether there is any procedure whereby the House itself can do justice to an hon. Member?
§ Mr. SPEAKERI have no knowledge of what occurred. The Official Report is not yet published, and the reports in the papers may or may not be reliable. My mind is not affected in the least by anything which I have seen. The hon. Gentleman asks me whether the hon. Member can receive any protection beyond calling for a false charge to be withdrawn. I am not aware of any. Anyhow, whatever is done should be done at the moment. An appeal should be made to the Chair instanter, and the matter decided then and there. It is impossible to reopen these questions after they are once decided.
§ Mr. BARNESMight I ask—there have already been embellishments of the incident in the gutter Press—has the hon. Member for West Ham (Mr. W. Thorne) any redress in a legal sense?
§ Mr. SPEAKERI should want a considerable fee for advising the hon. Member on a point of law.